Reconfigurable and modular active repeater device

ABSTRACT

An active repeater device includes a primary sector and one or more secondary sectors, receives a first beam of input RF signals. A first set of analog baseband signals, are generated based on received first beam of input RF signals. The first set of analog baseband signals are converted to a first set of coded data signals and control information is extracted from the first set of coded data signals by decoding only a header portion of the first set of coded data signals without demodulation of data portion of the first set of coded data signals. Based on the extracted control information, the first set of coded data signals are transmitted as beams of output RF signals to remote user equipment. The transmission is independent of demodulation of the data portion within the active repeater device to reduce latency for transmission of the first set of coded data signals.

REFERENCE

This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent ApplicationSer. No. 62/531,161 filed on Jul. 11, 2017, the entire content of whichis hereby incorporated herein by reference.

FIELD OF TECHNOLOGY

Certain embodiments of the disclosure relate to an active repeaterdevice in a wireless telecommunication system. More specifically,certain embodiments of the disclosure relate to a reconfigurable andmodular active repeater device.

BACKGROUND

Wireless telecommunication in modern times has witnessed advent ofvarious signal transmission techniques and methods, such as use of beamforming and beam steering techniques, for enhancing capacity of radiochannels. In accordance with such techniques, a transmitter radiatesradio waves in form of beams of radio frequency (RF) signals to avariety of RF receiver devices. The conventional systems which usetechniques such as beamforming and beam steering for signal transmissionmay have one or more limitations. For example, a beam of RF signalstransmitted by conventional systems, may be highly directional in natureand may be limited in transmission range or coverage.

In certain scenarios, an RF receiver device may be situated at adistance which is beyond transmission range of the transmitter, andhence reception of the RF signal at the RF receiver device may beadversely affected. In other scenarios one or more obstructions (such asbuildings and hills) in path of the RF beam transmitted by thetransmitter, may be blocking reception of the RF signal at the RFreceiver device. For the advanced high-performance fifth generation (5G)communication networks, such as the millimeter wave communicationsystem, there is required a dynamic system that can overcome the one ormore limitations of conventional systems.

Further limitations and disadvantages of conventional and traditionalapproaches will become apparent to one of skill in the art, throughcomparison of such systems with some aspects of the present disclosureas set forth in the remainder of the present application with referenceto the drawings.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSURE

A reconfigurable and modular active repeater device, substantially asshown in and/or described in connection with at least one of thefigures, as set forth more completely in the claims.

These and other advantages, aspects and novel features of the presentdisclosure, as well as details of an illustrated embodiment thereof,will be more fully understood from the following description anddrawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a network environment diagram that illustrates an exemplaryactive repeater device communicatively coupled to a base station and oneor more user equipment (UE), in accordance with an exemplary embodimentof the disclosure.

FIG. 2A is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary one-sector activerepeater device, in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of thedisclosure.

FIG. 2B is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary two-sector activerepeater device, in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of thedisclosure.

FIG. 2C is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary three-sector activerepeater device, in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of thedisclosure.

FIG. 3 depicts a circuit diagram illustrating various components of anexemplary radio head (RH) unit in the active repeater device, inaccordance with an exemplary embodiment of the disclosure.

FIG. 4 depicts a block diagram illustrating various components of anexemplary baseband signal processor in the active repeater device, inaccordance with an exemplary embodiment of the disclosure.

FIG. 5 depicts a block diagram illustrating various components of anexemplary active repeater device, in accordance with an exemplaryembodiment of the disclosure.

FIG. 6A illustrates exemplary operations of the active repeater devicefor reduction of latency, in accordance with an embodiment of thedisclosure.

FIG. 6B is a block diagram that illustrates a digital signal processorfor digital baseband domain echo channel path cancellation at a basebandreceiver, in accordance with an embodiment of the disclosure.

FIG. 7 depicts a block diagram illustrating a near-zero-latencymulti-hop scenario using a plurality of active repeater devices, inaccordance with an exemplary embodiment of the disclosure.

FIG. 8 illustrates an exemplary scenario for implementation of theactive repeater device, in accordance with an embodiment of thedisclosure.

FIGS. 9A and 9B, collectively, depict a flow chart that illustrates anexemplary method of operating an active repeater device, in accordancewith an embodiment of the disclosure.

FIGS. 10A and 10B, collectively, depict a flow chart that illustratesexemplary operations for echo channel path cancellation at a basebandreceiver, in accordance with an embodiment of the disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DISCLOSURE

Certain embodiments of the disclosure may be found in a reconfigurableand modular active repeater device. Emergence of 5G networks in cm-waveand mm-wave bands is introducing new opportunities as well as newtechnical challenges. 5G networks may provide orders of magnitudeimprovement in throughput and capacity complimented by the availabilityof wider spectrum bands, for example, in 28/39/60 GHz frequencies (orbetween 28-300 GHz) and massive frequency reuse through utilization ofhighly directional antennas. However, deployment of 5G networks isconditioned on overcoming certain challenges, for example:

-   -   1. Higher propagation loss at high frequencies with a single        antenna of size ˜λ/2. This is a well understood challenge, where        use of steerable phased arrays may overcome this challenge by        building large antenna apertures through co-phasing of many        small antenna elements.    -   2. Need for trackable line-of-sight (LOS) path or strong        reflective path between transmitter and receiver. Lack of        refraction and diffraction in high radio frequencies also limits        availability of links to LOS path or strong mirror-like        reflective paths. This may be a constraint to deliver wireless        connections that are to be made available anywhere and anytime.    -   3. High transmittance loss through the signal-obstructing        physical objects or material at high radio frequencies. The high        radio frequencies, such as the cm-wave and mm-wave radio        signals, demonstrate high transmittance losses when propagating        through typical signal-obstructing physical objects or        materials, such as tinted glass, wood, drywall, other glasses        etc., when compared to sub-5 GHz radio signals. This may be a        constraint to availability of connections, anywhere and anytime        that may be desirable.

Although, the first challenge is well understood and successfullymitigated by use of large phased array antennas. However, currently,there are no widely-agreed-on and/or standard mitigation techniques tothe second and the third challenges as given above. The disclosed activerepeater device comprises a reconfigurable and modular architecture thatmitigates the two remaining challenges. In the following description,reference is made to the accompanying drawings, which form a parthereof, and in which is shown, by way of illustration, variousembodiments of the present disclosure.

FIG. 1 is a network environment diagram that illustrates an exemplaryactive repeater device communicatively coupled to a base station and oneor more user equipment, in accordance with an exemplary embodiment ofthe disclosure. With reference to FIG. 1, there is shown a networkenvironment diagram 100 that may include an active repeater device 102,a base station 104 and one or more user equipment (UEs) 106A, 106B, and106C. There is also shown a signal-obstructing physical object 108 thatmay partially block or impair a beam of RF signals communicated betweenthe active repeater device 102 and the one or more remote UEs 106A,106B, and 106C.

The active repeater device 102 may have a modular architecture thatincludes a primary sector and one or more secondary sectors. The primarysector may include a baseband signal processor and a first radio head(RH) unit. The baseband signal processor may also be referred to as alight baseband unit (LBU) or a simplified baseband unit (BBU) that maybe smaller in size as compared to a conventional BBU to be housed in theprimary sector of the active repeater device 102. Each of the one ormore secondary sectors may include a second RH unit. Each of the one ormore secondary sectors may be communicatively coupled to the primarysector via one or more baseband (IQ) signal cables and a control signalcable. In accordance with an embodiment, the active repeater device 102may support multiple and a wide range of frequency spectrum, forexample, 1G, 2G, 3G, 4G, and 5G. Alternatively stated, the activerepeater device 102 may facilitate communication in both sub 30gigahertz to above 30 gigahertz. The band of radio frequencies in theelectromagnetic spectrum from 30 to 300 gigahertz is usually referred toas extremely high frequency (EHF) communication. Such radio frequencieshave wavelengths from ten to one millimeter, referred to as millimeterwave (mmW).

The active repeater device 102 may be configured to receive input RFsignals. In one example, the active repeater device 102 may receive theinput RF signals from the base station 104. In certain scenarios, theactive repeater device 102 may be positioned in a vicinity of asignal-obstructing physical object 108, which may partially block thepath of the input RF signals. The active repeater device 102 may berealized by various components, such as transmitter front-ends, receiverfront-ends, a plurality of low-noise amplifiers, a plurality of phaseshifters, a plurality of power combiners, a plurality of power dividers,and a plurality of power amplifiers, logical control units, controllersand mixers.

The base station 104 may be a fixed point of communication that mayrelay information, in form of a plurality of beams of RF signals, to andfrom communication devices such as the active repeater device 102 andthe one or more remote UEs 106A, 106B, and 106C. Multiple base stationscorresponding to one service provider, may be geographically positionedto cover specific geographical areas. Typically, bandwidth requirementsserve as a guideline for a location of the base station 104 based onrelative distance between the one or more remote UEs 106A, 106B, and106C and the base station 104. The count of base stations may bedependent on, for example, population density and geographicirregularities, such as buildings and mountain ranges, which mayinterfere with the plurality of beams of RF signals.

The one or more remote UEs 106A, 106B, and 106C may correspond to atelecommunication hardware used by an end-user to communicate.Alternatively stated, the one or more remote UEs 106A, 106B, and 106Cmay refer a combination of mobile equipment and subscriber identitymodule (SIM). Each of the one or more remote UEs 106A, 106B, and 106Cmay be configured to communicate with the active repeater device 102 byuse of RF signals. Examples of the one or more remote UEs 106A, 106B,and 106C may include, but are not limited to a smartphone, acustomer-premises equipment (CPE), a wireless modem, a home router, acable or satellite television set-top box, a VoIP base station, or anyother customized hardware for telecommunication.

The active repeater device 102 may be deployed between the base station104 (e.g. an eNB) and the one or more remote UEs 106A, 106B, and 106C tomitigate lack of line-of-sight (LOS) between the base station 104 andthe one or more remote UEs 106A, 106B, and 106C. The base station 104may be located at a certain distance (for example, “X1” meters) awayfrom the active repeater device 102. Therefore, radio frequency (RF)signals which may be transmitted between the active repeater device 102and the base station 104 may suffer the loss of a particular amount (forexample, “−Y1” decibels) of signal strength as propagation loss. Forexample, the base station 104 may be “X1” (e.g. 800) meters away fromthe active repeater device 102. In such a case, RF signals transmittedfrom the base station 104 to the active repeater device 102 may sufferfrom a certain propagation loss, for example, −3 decibels. In certainscenarios, the one or more remote UEs 106A, 106B, and 106C may bepresent at a certain distance (for example, “X2” meters) from the activerepeater device 102. The signal-obstructing physical object 108 may makeit difficult for RF signals to pass through it (i.e. through thesignal-obstructing physical object 108) in a wireless communicationnetwork in the LOS transmission path. Examples of the signal-obstructingphysical object 108 may include, but are not limited to tall buildings,tinted glass, doors, walls, trees, physical landscape, and high-voltagepower conductors. The RF signals transmitted between the active repeaterdevice 102 and the one or more remote UEs 106A, 106B, and 106C maysuffer certain amount of attenuation (for example, “−Y2” decibels)because of the presence of the signal-obstructing physical object 108,such as a tinted glass plane. For example, the signal-obstructingphysical object 108 may cause a total attenuation of certain decibels onRF signals communicated between the base station 104 and the one or moreremote UEs 106A, 106B, 106C.

In operation, the active repeater device 102 may be configured toreceive a first beam of input RF signals from the base station 104.Alternatively, the first beam of input RF signals may be received fromat least one of one or more remote user equipment (UEs) in a LOS regionor an NLOS region of the active repeater device 102. In certainscenarios, the active repeater device 102 may be configured to receivethe first beam of input RF signals from another active repeater devicewhich may be a part of a non-line-of-sight (NLOS) transmission path. TheNLOS transmission path may be between the base station 104 and the oneor more remote UEs 106A, 106B, and 106C. The active repeater device 102exhibits a demodulator-less architecture to avoid introduction oflatency through the active repeater device 102. As a result of thedemodulator-less architecture, one or more beams of output RF signalsare transmitted by one or more antenna arrays of the active repeaterdevice 102 to the one or more remote UEs 106A, 106B, and 106C withoutdemodulation of data portion of the received first beam of input RFsignals to minimize the latency for transmission of the one or morebeams of output RF signals while maintaining a final error vectormagnitude (EVM) target at end destination point (i.e. the one or moreremote UEs 106A, 106B, and 106C).

The active repeater device 102 may comprise a digital modem circuitry,for example, an embedded 5G modem. The digital modem circuitry mayutilize the received signal (i.e. the received first beam of input RFsignals) for control and monitoring operations, such as configuring andmonitoring beamforming functions. Conventional activerepeaters/relays/boosters are either simple RF amplification with noconfigurability. Beamforming, TDD-switching capabilities, or they arefull decode/recode relay nodes with a modem in the signal path and hencewith a higher latency. However, the active repeater device 102 does notprocess (i.e., demodulate) data stream in the received signal intendedfor end destination (i.e. the one or more remote UEs 106A, 106B, and106C). The data stream may also be referred to as the data portion ofthe received first beam of input RF signals. Only the header potion ofthe received signal may be taped into and decoded in the control path bythe active repeater device 102 to extract control information. Forexample, some subcarriers in the waveform of the received signal (i.e.the received first beam of input RF signals) may be dedicated for activerepeater device 102 for internal consumption, while the rest ofsubcarriers are assigned to other end users (i.e. the one or more remoteUEs 106A, 106B, and 106C). In this case, the digital modem circuitryselectively decodes only the subcarriers (that includes the controlinformation) assigned for the consumption of the active repeater device102 and the full received RF signal is still relayed towards thedestination without demodulation of full waveform. This is done toachieve near-zero-latency while maintaining a final error vectormagnitude (EVM) target at end destination point (i.e. the one or moreremote UEs 106A, 106B, and 106C) without relying on demodulation orre-modulation at an intermediate point, such as the deployment locationof the active repeater device 102, for boosting EVM. Although this setsa higher limit on signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) quality for signalpropagation through the active repeater device 102, the active repeaterdevice 102 may still achieve a target final Rx SNR (i.e. signal qualityat one or more remote UEs 106A, 106B, and 106C may be greater than adefined threshold SNR, for example, ˜22 dB) as a result of the modulararchitecture of the active repeater device 102 and generation of one ormore control signals based on the header portion of the received firstbeam of input RF signals. Further, a conventional baseband unit (BBU) iscostly and high-power-consumption. In contrast, a baseband signalprocessor of the primary sector of the active repeater device 102 may beimplemented as the baseband signal processor card or chip, which issmaller in size and consumes less power in comparison with theconventional BBU. Thus, the baseband signal processor of the primarysector may also be referred to as a light baseband unit (LBU) or asimplified baseband unit (BBU) that may be smaller in size as comparedto a conventional BBU.

In some embodiments, each of the one or more secondary sectors of theactive repeater device 102 may include a baseband signal processor andthe second RH unit. The second antenna array in the second RH unit maybe configured to receive a first beam of input RF signals. The firstbeam of input RF signals may be received from at least one of one ormore remote user equipment (UEs) or a base station in a LOS region or anNLOS region of the active repeater device 102. The circuitry in thesecond RH unit may be configured to generate a first set of analogbaseband signals based on the received first beam of input RF signals.The second circuitry in the baseband signal processor may be configuredto convert the first set of analog baseband signals received from thesecond RH unit to a first set of coded data signals. Thereafter, thedigital modem circuitry in the baseband signal processor may beconfigured to extract control information from the first set of codeddata signals by decoding only a header portion of the first set of codeddata signals without demodulation of data portion of the first set ofcoded data signals. The primary sector in the active repeater device102, communicatively coupled to the one or more secondary sectors, mayinclude the first radio head RH unit. The first RH unit may beconfigured to transmit the first set of coded data signals as a beam ofoutput RF signals, by the first antenna array of the primary sector, toat least the one or more remote user equipment (UEs) or a base station,based on the extracted control information from the first set of codeddata signals. The beam of output RF signals is transmitted withoutdemodulation of the data portion of the first set of coded data signalswithin the active repeater device to reduce latency for transmission ofthe first set of coded data signals.

In some embodiments, the baseband signal processor may include a digitalsignal processor, which may be a specialized digital computationalcircuitry that is configured to digitally model an echo signal at areceiver side, caused by reflection of RF signals transmitted from thetransmitter side of the active repeater device 102. More specifically,the RF signals that are transmitted by either the first RH unit or thesecond RH unit may get reflected from surroundings and may be furtherreceived by the first RH unit or the second RH unit back again as anecho signal. The echo signal may cause self-interference with the RFsignals received at the receiver side of the active repeater device 102.Upon mixing with the RF signals at the receiver side, the echo signalmay cause a decrease in a signal to noise ratio (SNR) (measured indecibels (dB)) of the RF signals that are received at the receiver sideof the active repeater device 102.

The digital signal processor may be configured to estimate, in a digitalbaseband domain, a digital echo signal in one or more current digitalbaseband signals received from at least the first RH unit or the secondRH unit. The one or more current digital baseband signals correspond toRF signals that are received in real time by at least the first RH unitor the second RH unit. The baseband signal processor may implement amulti-tap FIR filter to estimate the digital echo signal in the one ormore current digital baseband signals. Thereafter, the digital signalprocessor may be configured to remove, at a receiver side of the activerepeater device 102, an estimate of the digital echo signal from the oneor more current digital baseband signals, received as RF signals via atleast the first RH unit or the second RH unit. The detailed operation ofthe digital signal processor for active cancellation of the digital echosignal in the digital baseband domain has been further described indetail, for example, in FIG. 6B.

FIG. 2A is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary one-sector activerepeater device, in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of thedisclosure. FIG. 2A is explained in conjunction with elements fromFIG. 1. With reference to FIG. 2A, there is shown a one-sector activerepeater device 102 that includes a primary sector 202 of the activerepeater device 102. The primary sector 202 of the active repeaterdevice 102 comprises a first radio head (RH) unit 204 and a basebandsignal processor 206.

In some embodiments, the first RH unit 204 may be implemented in theactive repeater device 102 as a radio head (RH) card. Similarly, thebaseband signal processor 206 may be implemented in the active repeaterdevice 102 as a baseband signal processor card. Other examples ofimplementations of the RH card and the baseband signal processor cardmay include, but is not limited to an integrated circuit using a singleor separate printed circuit boards (PCBs) as substrates, a radiofrequency integrated chip (RFIC) or a system on a chip (SoC) device. Thefirst RH unit 204 and the baseband signal processor 206 may be housedwithin the primary sector 202 of the active repeater device 102. Thefirst RH unit 204 and the baseband signal processor 206 may becommunicatively coupled with each other via a wired or wirelesscommunication medium. An example of wired communication mediums (e.g. acontrol signal cable 522 and two baseband (IQ) signal cables 520 and524) between the first RH unit 204 and the baseband signal processor 206is shown in FIG. 5. The first RH unit 204 and the baseband signalprocessor 206 may communicate control signals and analog baseband (IQ)signals with each other.

FIG. 2B is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary two-sector activerepeater device, in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of thedisclosure. FIG. 2B is explained in conjunction with elements from FIGS.1 and 2A. With reference to FIG. 2B, there is shown a two-sector activerepeater device 102 that includes the primary sector 202 of the activerepeater device 102 (of FIG. 2A) and a secondary sector 208. Thesecondary sector 208 may include a second RH unit 210. The second RHunit 210 may be similar to the first RH unit 204. The secondary sector208 may be communicatively coupled with the primary sector 202 via oneor more signal cables (e.g. a control signal cable 522 and two baseband(IQ) signal cables 520 and 524).

FIG. 2C is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary three-sector activerepeater device, in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of thedisclosure. FIG. 2C is explained in conjunction with elements from FIGS.1, 2A, and 2B. With reference to FIG. 2C, there is shown a three-sectoractive repeater device 102 that includes an additional secondary sector,such as a secondary sector 212, connected to the two-sector activerepeater device 102 of FIG. 2B. The secondary sector 212 may include asecond RH unit 214 similar to the second RH unit 210. The secondarysector 212 may be communicatively coupled to the primary sector 202 viathe one or more signal cables (e.g. a control signal cable 522 and twoanalog baseband (IQ) signal cables 520 and 524 as shown in FIG. 5). As aresult of this modular architecture, the active repeater device 102 maybe upgradable or re-configurable to at least one of a base station(gNB), a small cell access point, or a remote radio head (RRH). Theactive repeater device 102 may be upgraded to a base station, such asthe gNB, by replacing the baseband signal processor 206 with a suitablebaseband unit (BBU) known in the art.

The baseband signal processor 206 of the primary sector 202 of theactive repeater device 102 does not process (i.e., demodulate) datastream in the received signal intended for end destination (i.e. the oneor more remote UEs 106A, 106B, and 106C). The data stream may also bereferred to as the data portion of the received first beam of input RFsignals. The baseband signal processor 206 may decode only the headerpotion of the received signal to extract control information.Conventional active repeaters/relays/boosters are either simple RFamplification with no configurability. Beamforming, TDD-switchingcapabilities or they are full decode/recode relay nodes with a modem inthe signal path and hence with a higher latency. Further, a conventionalbaseband unit (BBU) is voluminous, and is sometimes placed in anequipment room in mobile telecommunications systems and connected withremote radio head unit (RRU), via optical fiber. In contrast, thebaseband signal processor 206 of the primary sector 202 of the activerepeater device 102 may be implemented as the baseband signal processorcard or chip, which is smaller in size and consumes less power incomparison with the conventional BBU. Thus, the baseband signalprocessor 206 may also be referred to as a light baseband unit (LBU) ora simplified baseband unit (BBU) that may be smaller in size as comparedto a conventional BBU. The baseband signal processor 206 may thus behoused in the primary sector 202 of the active repeater device 102, asshown. The active repeater device 102 has a modular architecture thatincludes the primary sector 202, which includes the baseband signalprocessor 206 and the first RH unit 204. A first antenna array in thefirst RH unit 204 may be configured to receive a first beam of input RFsignals. Thereafter, the first RH unit 204 may be configured to generatea first set of analog baseband signals based on the received first beamof input RF signals. The baseband signal processor 206 may be configuredto convert the first set of analog baseband signals received from thefirst RH unit 204 to a first set of coded data signals. A digital modemcircuitry in the baseband signal processor may be configured to extractcontrol information from the first set of coded data signals by decodingonly the header portion of the first set of coded data signals withoutdemodulation of data portion of the first set of coded data signals.Further, the active repeater device 102 may include one or moresecondary sectors (such as secondary sectors 208 and 212). Each of theone or more secondary sectors may be communicatively coupled to theprimary sector 202 and includes a second RH unit (such as the RH unit210 and 214). The second RH unit may be configured to transmit the firstset of coded data signals as one or more beams of output RF signals byone or more second antenna arrays of the one or more secondary sectorsto one or more remote UEs 106A, 106B, and 106C), based on the extractedcontrol information from the first set of coded data signals. The one ormore beams of output RF signals may be transmitted without demodulationof the data portion of the first set of coded data signals within theactive repeater device 102 to reduce latency for transmission of thefirst set of coded data signals. Thus, the baseband signal processor 206of the primary sector 202 of the active repeater device 102 does notprocess (i.e., demodulate) data stream in the received signal intendedfor end destination (i.e. the one or more remote UEs 106A, 106B, and106C) to reduce latency in communication to the end destination withoutcompromise in signal quality. For example, a target final Rx SNR may beachieved (i.e. signal quality at one or more remote UEs 106A, 106B, and106C may be greater than a defined threshold SNR, for example, ˜22 dB).

FIG. 3 depict circuit diagrams illustrating various components of anexemplary radio head unit in the active repeater device, in accordancewith an exemplary embodiment of the disclosure. FIG. 3 is explained inconjunction with elements from FIGS. 1, 2A, 2B, and 2C. With referenceto FIG. 3, there is shown a radio head (RH) unit 302. The RH unit 302may be one of the first RH unit 204, the second RH unit 210, the secondRH unit 214 or any other radio head units in the active repeater device102. The RH unit 302 comprises a receiver (Rx) phased array 338 and atransmitter (TX) phased array 340. The Rx phased array 338 may include acascading receiver chain 334 comprising a first antenna array 304, afirst set of low noise amplifiers (LNA) 306, a first set of receiverfront end phase shifters 308, and a first set of power combiners 310.The TX phased array 340 may include a cascading transmitter chain 336comprising a first set of power dividers 326, a first set of transmitterfront end phase shifters 328, a first set of power amplifiers (PA) 330,and a second antenna array 332. There are is also shown a first powercombiner 312, a first mixer 318, a second mixer 320, a first phaselocked loop (PLL) 314, a second PLL 316, a first controller 322, and afirst power divider 324 in the RH unit 302.

The first antenna array 304 may be configured to receive the first beamof input RF signals from the base station 104. The first antenna array304 may be further configured to receive one or more beams of input RFsignals from the one or more remote UEs 106A, 106B, and 106C. Inaccordance with an embodiment, the first antenna array 304 may comprisea plurality of antenna elements. The first antenna array 304 may beconfigured to receive the first beam of input RF signals by use of theplurality of antenna elements. Examples of implementations of the firstantenna array 304 may include, but is not limited to a linear phasedarray antenna, a planar phased array antenna, a frequency scanningphased array antenna, a dynamic phased array antenna. The plurality ofantenna elements in the first antenna array 304 may be communicativelycoupled to one or more LNAs in the first set of LNAs 306.

The first set of LNAs 306 may be configured to amplify input RF signalsreceived at the first antenna array 304. The first set of LNAs 306 maybe configured to amplify input RF signals, which may have low-power,without significantly degrading corresponding signal-to-noise (SNR)ratio. Each of the first set of LNAs 306 may be communicatively coupledto phase shifters in the first set of receiver front end phase shifters308. The first set of receiver front end phase shifters 308 may performan adjustment in phase values of the input RF signals, till combinedsignal strength value of the received input RF signals, is maximized. Inone example, the first set of receiver front end phase shifters 308 mayperform an adjustment in the phase values till each of the receivedinput RF signals are in-phase with each other. Phase shifters in thefirst set of receiver front end phase shifters 308 may becommunicatively coupled to power combiners, such as 4:1 power combiner,in the first set of power combiners 310. Further, each of the first setof power combiners 310 may be coupled to the first power combiner 312.

Each of the first set of power combiners 310 may be configured tocombine each of the phase shifted input RF signals into a first set ofRF signals. The first set of power combiners 310 may be configured totransmit the first set of RF signals to the first power combiner 312.The first power combiner 312 may be configured to combine the first setof RF signals to a first RF signal. The first power combiner 312 and thefirst set of power combiners 310 may comprise both active and passivecombiners. Examples of implementation of the first power combiner 312and the first set of power combiners 310 may include, but is not limitedto resistive power combiners and solid-state power combiners. The firstpower combiner 312 may be further configured to communicate the first RFsignal to the first mixer 318.

The first mixer 318 may be configured to down convert the first RFsignal to an output analog baseband (IQ) signal. The first mixer 318 maybe configured to down convert the first RF signal with a first frequencyto the output analog baseband signal based on mixing of a secondfrequency generated by a local oscillator with the first RF signal. Thefirst mixer 318 may be communicatively coupled with the first PLL 314.Alternatively stated, the first PLL 314 in combination with the firstmixer 318 may be configured to down convert the first RF signal into theoutput IQ signal. The first mixer 318 may be configured to communicatethe output IQ signal to the baseband signal processor 206 via a first IQsignal cable.

The second mixer 320 may be configured to receive an input analogbaseband (IQ) signal from the baseband signal processor 206 via a secondIQ signal cable. Further, the second mixer 320 and the second PLL 316may be configured to up convert the received input IQ signal to a secondRF signal. The second mixer 320 may be configured to up convert theinput IQ signal to the second RF signal based on mixing of a thirdfrequency generated by a local oscillator with the input IQ signal. Thesecond mixer 320 may be communicatively coupled to the first powerdivider 324. Further, each of the first set of power dividers 326 may becommunicatively coupled to the first power divider 324, as shown. Thecombination of the second mixer 320 and the second PLL 316 may beconfigured to transmit the second RF signal to the first power divider324.

The first controller 322 may be configured to receive one or morecontrol signals from the baseband signal processor 206 via a controlsignal cable. The first controller 322 may be configured to adjust oneor more parameters (e.g., amplifier gains, and phase shifts) associatedwith the RX phased array 338 and the TX phased array 340 based on thereceived control signals. In one example, the first controller 322 maybe configured to adjust amplifier gains of each of the first set of LNAs306 and the first set of PAs 330 in the active repeater device 102. Inanother example, the first controller 322 may be configured to adjustphase shifts of each of the first set of transmitter front end phaseshifters 328 and the first set of receiver front end phase shifters 308,based on the received control signal.

The first power divider 324 may be configured to split the second RFsignal received from the second mixer 320. In one example, the firstpower divider 324 may comprise one or more input differential pair andtwo cascade pairs that may split output current into two or morebranches. In another example, the first power divider 324 may furthercompensate for RF signal loss to achieve an efficient RF power transfer.In another example, the first power divider 324 may be configured tosplit the second RF signal into a second set of RF signals. The firstpower divider 324 may be configured to communicate the second set of RFsignals into the first set of power dividers 326. The first set of powerdividers 326 may be configured to further split the second set of RFsignals into a plurality of RF signals. The first set of power dividers326 may be communicatively coupled to the first set of transmitter frontend phase shifters 328.

The first set of transmitter front end phase shifters 328 may beconfigured to receive the plurality of RF signals from the first set ofpower dividers 326. The first set of transmitter front end phaseshifters 328 may be configured to perform a phase shift on each of theplurality of RF signals for beam forming (e.g. synthesis of a widerbeam) or beam steering of the plurality of RF signals based on controlinformation received from the baseband signal processor 206. The controlinformation may be received by the first controller 322 and processed inconjunction with the set of transmitter front end phase shifters 328.The first set of transmitter front end phase shifters 328 may beconfigured to transmit the plurality of phase shifted RF signals to thefirst set of PAs 330.

The first set of PAs 330 may be configured to adjust an amplificationgain of each of the plurality of RF signals on which phase shift hasbeen performed by the first set of transmitter front end phase shifters328. The amplification gain of each of the plurality of RF signals maybe adjusted based on the control signal received from the firstcontroller 322. The amplification gain of each of the plurality of RFsignals may be adjusted based on the control signal received from thefirst controller 322. The control signal may be generated by the firstcontroller 322 based on the one or more control signals received fromthe baseband signal processor 206. The first set of PAs 330 may beconfigured to transmit the plurality of RF signals to the second antennaarray 332.

In accordance with an embodiment, the second antenna array 332 may beconfigured to transmit one or more beams of the plurality of output RFsignals to the base station 104 (uplink communication) and/or the one ormore remote UEs 106A, 106B, and 106C (downlink communication). Inaccordance with an embodiment, the second antenna array 332 may be aphased array antenna. The second antenna array 332 may comprise aplurality of antenna elements. The first antenna array 304 may beconfigured to transmit the plurality of output RF signals by use of theplurality of antenna elements. In certain scenarios, the second antennaarray 332 may be configured to transmit the plurality of output RFsignals to the one or more remote UEs 106A, 106B, and 106C. In otherscenarios, the second antenna array 332 may be configured to transmitthe plurality of output RF signals to the base station 104. Examples ofimplementations of the first antenna array 304 may include, but is notlimited to a linear phased array antenna, a planar phased array antennaor a dynamic phased array antenna

In operation, the first antenna array 304 may be configured to receive afirst beam of input RF signals. The first beam of input RF signals maybe received from at least one of one or more remote user equipment (UEs)or a base station in a LOS region or an NLOS region of the activerepeater device 102. In one example, the first antenna array 304 may beconfigured to receive the first beam of input RF signals from the basestation 104. In another example, the first antenna array 304 may beconfigured to receive the first beam of input RF signals from the one ormore remote UEs 106A, 106B, and 106C. In one example, the activerepeater device 102 may be configured to be activated when the firstantenna array 304 receives the beam of input RF signals from the basestation 104 (or another active repeater device). In such a case, theactive repeater device 102 may transmit one or more output RF signalsbased on the received input RF signals, to the one or more remote UEs106A, 106B, and 106C, by the second antenna array 332 of the TX phasedarray 340. In another example, the active repeater device 102 may beconfigured to be activated when the first antenna array 304 receivesinput RF signals from the one or more remote UEs 106A, 106B, and 106C.In such a case, the active repeater device 102 may be configured totransmit one or more output RF signals based on the received input RFsignals, to the base station 104 by use of the second antenna array 332of the TX phased array 340.

The first set of LNAs 306 in the radio head unit 302 may be configuredto adjust a first amplification gain of each of the received input RFsignals. The first set of receiver front end phase shifters 308 may beconfigured to apply a first phase shift on each of the plurality of RFsignals with the adjusted first amplification gain. It may be noted thatthe first amplification gain of the first set of LNAs 306 may beadjusted by the first controller 322 based on the received controlsignal from the baseband signal processor 206. Similarly, the firstphase shifts of the first set of receiver front-end phase shifters maybe adjusted by the first controller 322 based on the received one ormore control signals from the baseband signal processor 206.

In accordance with an embodiment, the first set of power combiners 310,and the first power combiner 312 in combination, may be configured tocombine the input RF signals to generate the first RF signal. The firstRF signal may be down converted by the combination of the first mixer318 and the first PLL 314 to the output IQ signal. The output IQ signalmay be communicated by the first mixer 318 to the baseband signalprocessor 206 via the IQ signal cable. Further, the second mixer 320 maybe configured to receive the input IQ signal from the baseband signalprocessor 206 via the second IQ signal cable. In accordance with anembodiment, the input IQ signal may be up converted by the combinationof the second mixer 320 and the second PLL 316 to a second RF signal.The first power divider 324 may be configured to split the second RFsignal into a second set of RF signals. The first set of power dividers326 may be configured to further split the second set of RF signals intoa plurality of RF signals. In accordance with an embodiment, the firstset of transmitter front end phase shifters 328 may be configured toperform phase shifts on each of the plurality of RF signals.Furthermore, the first set of PAs 330 may be configured to adjust anamplification gain of each of the plurality of RF signals on which phaseshift has been performed by the first set of transmitter front end phaseshifters 328. In accordance with an embodiment, the second antenna array332 may be configured to transmit one or more beams of the plurality ofoutput RF signals to the base station 104 and/or the one or more remoteUEs 106A, 106B, and 106C.

FIG. 4 depicts a block diagram illustrating various components of anexemplary baseband signal processor in the active repeater device, inaccordance with an exemplary embodiment of the disclosure. FIG. 4 isexplained in conjunction with elements from FIGS. 1, 2A, 2B, 2C, and 3.With reference to FIG. 4, there is shown the baseband signal processor206. The baseband signal processor 206 comprises a first set of analogto digital converters (ADC) 402, a second controller 404, a memory 406,a transmitter-receiver control sector-to-sector routing multiplexerlogic control unit (hereinafter referred to as logical control unit 408(LCU)), a channel-select filter bank 410, a digital modem circuitry 412,and a first set of digital to analog circuitry (DAC) 414. In someembodiments, the baseband signal processor 206 may also include a LongTerm Evolution (LTE) modem 416. In some embodiments, the baseband signalprocessor 206 may not include the LTE modem 416. The second controller404 may be a digital signal processor. In one example, the memory 406may store code, logic, may be correspond to one or more digital filterssuch as channel select filters. In another example, the channel selectfilters may be stored in the channel select filter bank 410.

The baseband signal processor 206 may be communicatively coupled withone or more RH units (referred to as a first set of RH units) based onthe implementation of the active repeater device 102 as the one-, two-,or three-sectored active repeater device 102 as discussed in FIGS. 2A,2B, and 2C. The baseband signal processor 206 may be communicativelycoupled to the first set of RH units, such as the first RH unit 204, thesecond RH unit 210, and the second RH unit 214, via one or more IQsignal cables and control signal cables.

In operation, the baseband signal processor 206 may be configured toreceive a first set of IQ signals (shown by arrow marks to the first setof ADCs 402) from the first set of RH units (e.g. the RH unit 302 ofFIG. 3). Each IQ signal of the first set of IQ signals may be receivedby the baseband signal processor 206, from a corresponding RH unit ofthe first set of RH units. Thereafter, the first set of ADCs 402 may beconfigured to convert the first set of IQ signals to the first set ofcoded data signals. Thus, in other words, the first set of coded datasignals may correspond to input RF signals received from the basestation 104 and the one or more remote UEs 106A, 106B, 106C.

In accordance with an embodiment, the digital modem circuitry 412, suchas the 5G digital modem, may be configured to extract controlinformation from the first set of coded data signals. The first set ofcoded data signals may comprise a sequence of frames. The sequence offrames may comprise data frames and control frames. The digital modemcircuitry 412 may be configured to access (or decode) the header portionof the first set of coded data signals to extract the controlinformation. The control information may include Time Division Duplex(TDD) time slot information and beamforming information. The controlinformation may further include frame structure and frame lengthinformation of the first set of coded data signals accessed from theheader portion of the first set of coded data signals. The controlinformation may also include the beam-management information.

In accordance with an embodiment, the second controller 404 may beconfigured to analyze the extracted control information to determinedestination receivers for each of the first set of coded data signals.The destination receivers may be receivers of RF devices, to which theinput RF signals associated with the first set of coded data signals areintended to be transmitted. Examples of such RF devices may include, butis not limited to the one or more remote UEs 106A, 106B, and 106C, thebase station 104, and/or any other active repeater devices. Further, theLCU 408 may be configured to assign each of the first set of coded datasignals to one or more of the first set of RH units based on thedetermined destination receivers.

In accordance with an embodiment, the first set of DACs 414 may beconfigured to convert the first set of coded data signals to a secondset of IQ signals. The second set of IQ signals are analog signals. Eachof the second set of IQ signals may correspond to a coded data signal ofthe first set of coded data signals. The baseband signal processor 206may be configured to transmit each of the second set of IQ signals toone or more of the first set of RH units, such as the first RH unit 204,the second RH unit 210, and the second RH unit 214, based on assignmentof the first set of coded data signals by the LCU 408.

In certain scenarios where the input RF signals are received from theone or more remote UEs 106A, 106B, and 106C, a first set of coded datasignals may be generated similar to input RF signals received from thebase station 104, as discussed. In such cases, the second controller 404in the baseband signal processor 206 may be configured to measure areceived signal strength indicator (RSSI) associated with each of thefirst set of coded data signals in digital domain. The RSSI is a measureof power present in a received RF signal. The RSSI may provide usefulinformation such as rough estimate of distance between transmitters ofthe RF signal from the active repeater device 102.

The second controller 404 may be further configured to filter the firstset of coded data signals based on one or more channel select filters inthe channel-select filter bank 410. The second controller 404 may beconfigured to suppress adjacent channel signals in the first set ofcoded data signals by applying channel select filters in thechannel-select filter bank 410 on the first set of coded data signals.By suppression of the adjacent channel signals in the first set of codeddata signals, the second controller 404 may be configured to increaseaccuracy of the RSSI measurement in the digital domain.

In accordance with an embodiment, the second controller 404 may generateone or more control signals based on the extracted control informationand the measured RSSI. The second controller 404 may transmit thegenerated one or more control signals to one or more of the first set ofRH units (such as the first RH unit 204, the second RH unit 210, and thesecond RH unit 214). Thereafter, the one or more control signals may bereceived by the first controller 322 in an RH unit (such as the RH unit302) in the first set of RH units. The first controller 322 may beconfigured to adjust amplification gains of the first set of LNAs 306 ofthe Rx phased array 338 based on the received one or more controlsignals from the second controller 404. Alternatively stated, the secondcontroller 404 in association with the first controller 322 may adjustgain distribution within the cascading receiver chain 334 based on themeasured RSSI. In some embodiments, the second controller 404 and thefirst controller 322 may be implemented as a single controller.

In accordance with an embodiment, the first controller 322 may beconfigured to adjust amplitude gains of the first set of PAs 330 in thecascading transmitter chain 336, based on the received one or morecontrol signals from the second controller 404. The second controller404 is configured to adjust transmit power of the cascading transmitterchain 336 based on the measured RSSI. By adjusting transmit power of thecascading transmitter chain 336, the second controller 404 may adjustrelative power of input RF signals received from different UEs in uplinkcommunication to the base station 104.

In accordance with an embodiment, the second controller 404 may beconfigured to measure a transmitter signal strength indicator (TSSI)across the first set of PAs 330 in the cascading transmitter chain 336.In accordance with an embodiment, the second controller 404 may generatethe one or more control signals based on the measured TSSI. The firstcontroller 322 may be configured to calibrate absolute transmissionpower levels in the cascading transmitter chain 336 based on thereceived one or more control signals. Therefore, the second controller404 in association with the first controller 322, may be configured tocalibrate the absolute transmission power levels in the cascadingtransmitter chain 336 based on the measured TSSI. In some embodiments,the LTE modem 416 may be configured to perform one or more operations,such as configuring and monitoring beamforming functions of the activerepeater device 102. The LTE modem 416 may be further configured toperform timing synchronization and frequency synchronization with thebase station 104 and the one or more remote UEs 106A, 106B, and 106C.

FIG. 5 depicts a block diagram illustrating various components of anexemplary two-sectored active repeater device, in accordance with anexemplary embodiment of the disclosure. FIG. 5 is explained inconjunction with elements from FIGS. 1, 2A, 2B, 2C, 3, and 4. Withreference to FIG. 5, there is shown the active repeater device 102. Theactive repeater device 102 may be the two-sectored active repeaterdevice that includes the primary sector 202 and the secondary sector208. The primary sector 202 may include the first RH unit 204 and thebaseband signal processor 206. The secondary sector 208 may include thesecond RH unit 210.

The first RH unit 204 may include a first antenna array 502 and a firstcircuitry 504. The first antenna array 502 may correspond to the firstantenna array 304 (FIG. 3). The first circuitry 504 may comprise thefirst set of LNAs 306, the first set of receiver front end phaseshifters 308, the first set of power combiners 310, the first powercombiner 312, the first mixer 318, the first PLL 314, and the firstcontroller 322 of FIG. 3.

The baseband signal processor 206 may comprise a second circuitry 506, adigital modem circuitry 508, an RSSI circuitry 510, and a transmittersignal strength indicator (TSSI) circuitry 512. The second circuitry 506may comprise the first set of ADCs 402, the first set of DACs 414, thesecond controller 404, the memory 406, the LCU 408, and thechannel-select filer bank 410. The digital modem circuitry 508 maycorrespond to the digital modem circuitry 412 (FIG. 4). The digitalmodem circuitry 508 may be the 5G digital modem circuitry that maysupport at least multi-band millimeter wave (mmWave) spectrum. Incertain scenarios, the first RH unit 204 and the baseband signalprocessor 206 may be communicatively coupled via a system bus 514. Theprimary sector 202 may be communicatively coupled to the secondarysector 208 via a first IQ signal cable 520, a control signal cable 522,and a second IQ signal cable 524.

In operation, the first antenna array 502 of the first RH unit 204 maybe configured to receive a first beam of input RF signals, for example,from the base station 104 (FIG. 1). The first circuitry 504 in the firstRH unit 204 may be configured to generate the first set of IQ signals(i.e. analog baseband signals) based on the received first beam of inputRF signals. The second circuitry 506 in the baseband signal processor206 may be configured to convert the first set of IQ signals receivedfrom the first RH unit 204 to the first set of coded data signals. Thedigital modem circuitry 508 in the baseband signal processor 206 may beconfigured to extract control information from the first set of codeddata signals based on header portion of the first set of coded datasignals (as discussed in FIG. 4).

The second RH unit 210 may be configured to transmit the first set ofcoded data signals as one or more beams of output RF signals by one ormore second antenna arrays (such as the second antenna array 516) of thesecondary sector 208 to one or more remote UEs 106A, 106B, and 106C. Thetransmission may be independent of demodulation of data portion of thefirst set of coded data signals to reduce latency for transmission ofthe first set of coded data signals.

In certain scenarios, the RSSI circuitry 510 in the primary sector 202may be configured to measure the RSSI associated with each of the firstset of coded digital signals in digital domain. The second circuitry 506(e.g. the second controller 404) may be further configured to filter thefirst set of coded data signals based on one or more channel selectfilters in the channel-select filter bank 410. The second controller 404may be configured to suppress adjacent channel signals in the first setof coded data signals by applying channel select filters in thechannel-select filter bank 410 on the first set of coded data signals.By suppression of the adjacent channel signals in the first set of codeddata signals, the second controller 404 may be configured to increaseaccuracy of the RSSI measurement in the digital domain.

In accordance with an embodiment, the baseband signal processor 206(e.g. the second controller 404 of the baseband signal processor 206)may be configured to generate one or more control signals based on theextracted control information and the measured RSSI. The baseband signalprocessor 206 (e.g. the second controller 404) may transmit thegenerated one or more control signals to one or more of the first set ofRH units (such as the first RH unit 204, the second RH unit 210, and thesecond RH unit 214). The one or more control signals may be received bythe first circuitry 504 (e.g. the first controller 322 in the firstcircuitry 504) of the first RH unit 204.

The first controller 322 of the first RH unit 204 may be configured toadjust amplification gains of the first set of LNAs 306 of the Rx phasedarray 338 based on the one or more control signals. Alternativelystated, the first controller 322 may adjust gain distribution within thecascading receiver chain 334 based on the measured RSSI. Further, thefirst controller 322 may be configured to adjust amplitude gains of thefirst set of PAs 330 in the cascading transmitter chain 336 based on thereceived one or more control signals. The first controller 322 may befurther configured to adjust transmit power of the cascading transmitterchain 336 based on the measured RSSI. Further, the second controller404, in association with the first controller 322 may adjust relativepower of input RF signals received from different UEs in uplinkcommunication to the base station 104.

In accordance with an embodiment, the TSSI circuitry 512 in the primarysector 202 may be configured to measure a TSSI across the first set ofPAs 330 in the cascading transmitter chain 336. In some embodiments, theTSSI circuitry 512 may be provided in the baseband signal processor 206.In some embodiments, the TSSI circuitry 512 may be provided in the firstRH unit 204. A controller, for example, the first controller 322 maycalibrate the absolute transmission power levels in the cascadingtransmitter chain 336 based on the measured TSSI. For example, thesecond controller 404 may generate the one or more control signals basedon the measured TSSI. The second controller 404 may be configured tocommunicate the one or more control signals to the first controller 322.The first controller 322 may then calibrate absolute transmission powerlevels in the cascading transmitter chain 336 based on the one or morecontrol signals. Therefore, the second controller 404, in associationwith the first controller 322 may calibrate the absolute transmissionpower levels in the cascading transmitter chain 336. In someembodiments, the second controller 404 and the first controller 322 maybe implemented as a single controller.

FIG. 6A illustrates exemplary operations of the active repeater devicefor reduction of latency, in accordance with an embodiment of thedisclosure. With reference to FIG. 6A, there is shown the activerepeater device 102. FIG. 6A is explained in conjunction with elementsfrom FIGS. 1, 2A, 2B, 2C, 3, 4, and 5.

At 602, a first beam of input RF signals may be received from the basestation 104 by the first antenna array 304 in the active repeater device102. The cascading receiver chain 334 may be configured to combine theinput RF signals into a first RF signal. The cascading receiver chain334 may be further configured to communicate the first RF signal to thefirst mixer 318.

At 604, the first RF signal may be down converted by the first mixer 318to a first analog baseband (IQ) signal. The first mixer 318 may beconfigured to down convert the first RF signal with a first frequency tothe first IQ signal based on mixing of a second frequency generated by alocal oscillator with the first RF signal. The first mixer 318 may beconfigured to communicate the first IQ signal to the baseband signalprocessor 206 via the first IQ signal cable. Similarly, the first set ofRH units (such as the first RH unit 204, the second RH unit 210, and thesecond RH unit 214) may communicate a first set of IQ signals whichincludes the first IQ signal, to the baseband signal processor 206 fordigital sample processing at 606.

At 606, one or more digital sample processing operations may be executedby the baseband signal processor 206. To execute the one or more digitalsample processing operations, the baseband signal processor 206 mayconvert the first set of IQ signals into a first set of coded datasignals. Examples of the one or more digital sample processingoperations may include, but are not limited to RSSI measurement indigital domain, suppression of adjacent channel signals to increaseaccuracy of the RSSI measurement, or other sample-level manipulation ofsignal without incurring noticeable latency (e.g. digital pre-distortionfor first set of power amplifiers 330 and digital post- or pre-gainequalization for the Rx phased array 338 or the Tx Phased array 340.)For example, a RSSI associated with each of the first set of codeddigital signals may be measured by the baseband signal processor 206 indigital domain. The baseband signal processor 206 may be configured tosuppress adjacent channel signals in the first set of coded data signalsby applying channel select filters in the channel select filter bank 410on the first set of coded data signals. By suppression of the adjacentchannel signals in the first set of coded data signals, the secondcontroller 404 may be configured to increase accuracy of the RSSImeasurement, as discussed in FIG. 4.

At 608, control information may be extracted from the first set of codeddata signals by decoding the header portion of the first set of codeddata signals. The digital modem circuitry 412 may be configured todecode the header portion of frames in the first set of coded datasignals to extract the control information, as discussed in FIGS. 4 and5. The second controller 422 of the baseband signal processor 206 maygenerate the one or more control signals based on the measured RSSI andthe extracted control information. In some embodiments, an LTE modem,such as the LTE modem 632 may be provided. In such a case, the LTE modem632 may be configured to configure and monitor beamforming functions ofthe active repeater device 102. The LTE modem 632 may be furtherconfigured to perform timing synchronization and frequencysynchronization with the base station 104 and the one or more remote UEs106A, 106B, 106C. The LTE modem 632 may correspond to the LTE modem 416of FIG. 4.

At 610, one or more control signals may be transmitted to an RH unit(such as the RH unit 302) of the first set of RH units (such as thefirst RH unit 204, the second RH unit 210, and the second RH unit 214)to control beamforming at the RH unit. The one or more control signalsmay be received by the first controller 322 in the RH unit. The firstcontroller 322 may be configured to adjust phase shifts of the first setof receiver front end phase shifters 308 and the first set oftransmitter front end phase shifters 328, based on the one or morecontrol signals, to control beam forming (e.g. synthesis of a widerbeam) or beam steering (e.g. steering the beam in a particular directionor angle). Further, the first controller 322 may be configured to adjustamplification gains of the first set of LNAs 306 and the first set ofPAs 330, based on the one or more control signals to controlbeamforming. The baseband signal processor 206 may further convert thefirst set of coded data signals to a second set of IQ signals.

At 612, the second set of IQ signals may be up converted by thecombination of the second mixer 320 and the second PLL 316 to one ormore output RF signals. At 614, one or more beams of output RF signalsmay be transmitted to the one or more remote UEs 106A, 106B, and 106C bythe active repeater device 102. The transmission may be independent of(i.e. may not require) demodulation of data portion of the first set ofcoded data signals to reduce latency for transmission of the first setof coded data signals as the one or more beams of output RF signals.

At 616, one or more beams of input RF signals from the one or moreremote UEs 106A, 106B, and 106C may be received by the first antennaarray 304 in an RH unit (such as the RH unit 302) of the first set of RHunits (such as the first RH unit 204, the second RH unit 210, and thesecond RH unit 214). The Rx phased array 338 may be configured tocombine the one or more input RF signals into a third RF signal. The Rxphased array 338 may be further configured to communicate the third RFsignal to a first mixer 620 in the RH unit (e.g. a RH unit of asecondary sector 208 or the secondary sector 212). The first mixer 620may be similar to the first mixer 318 of the RH unit 302.

At 618, the third RF signal may be down converted by the first mixer 620to a third output IQ signal. The first mixer 620 may be configured tocommunicate the third output IQ signal to the baseband signal processor206 via a third IQ signal cable. Similarly, the first set of RH units(such as the first RH unit 204, the second RH unit 210, and the secondRH unit 214) may communicate a third set of IQ signals to the basebandsignal processor 206 of the primary sector 202.

At 622, one or more digital sample processing operations may be executedby the baseband signal processor 206 in a downlink communication. Toexecute the one or more digital sample processing operations, thebaseband signal processor 206 may convert the third set of IQ signalsinto a second set of coded data signals by the baseband signal processor206. The one or more digital sample processing operations may be similarto the operations discussed at 606. For example, the baseband signalprocessor 206 may be configured to measure an RSSI associated with eachof the second set of coded digital signals in digital domain, asdiscussed in FIG. 4. Further, the baseband signal processor 206 may beconfigured to decode the header portion of the second set of coded datasignals. The baseband signal processor 206 may be configured todetermine destination receivers for each of the second set of coded datasignals based on decoding of header portions of the second set of codeddata signals, as discussed in FIG. 4.

At 624, each of the second set of coded data signals (that correspondsto the RF signals from the one or more remote UEs 106A, 106B, and 106C)may be multiplexed to one or more of the first set of RH units by theLCU 408, based on the determined destination receivers. Further, thefirst set of DACs 414 may be configured to convert the second set ofcoded data signals to a fourth set of IQ signals.

At 626, the fourth set of IQ signals may be up converted by a secondmixer 628 in the RH unit, to a fourth RF signal. The second mixer 628may be similar to the second mixer 320 of the RH unit 302.

At 630, a second beam of the fourth RF signal may be transmitted to thebase station 104 from the second antenna array 332 (e.g. a phasedantenna array of the primary sector 202) of the active repeater device102, based on the fourth RF signal. Thus, different input RF signalsfrom the one or more remote UEs 106A, 106B, and 106C may be receivedthrough different beam patterns and distances. The received differentinput RF signals from the one or more remote UEs 106A, 106B, and 106Cmay be superimposed by the LCU 408 under the control of the secondcontroller 404 in primary sector 202 and transmitted to the base station104 in uplink communication as a single stream. The single stream mayinclude full frequency channel that corresponds to the different inputRF signals received from the one or more remote UEs 106A, 106B, and106C. The first antenna array 304 of the primary sector 202 and the oneor more second antenna arrays, such as the second antenna array 332, ofthe one or more secondary sectors (such as the secondary sectors 208 and212) are configured to receive the first beam of input RF signals andtransmit the one or more beams of output RF signals in accordance withmultiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) reception and transmission.

FIG. 6B is a block diagram that illustrates a digital signal processorfor digital baseband domain echo channel path cancellation at a basebandreceiver, in accordance with an embodiment of the disclosure. FIG. 6B isexplained in conjunction with elements from FIGS. 1, 2A, 2B, 2C, 3, 4,5, and 6A. With reference to FIG. 6B, there is shown a block diagram ofthe active repeater device 102 of FIG. 1 that shows baseband RF signalprocessing and baseband digital signal processing between a receiverside (i.e., receiving function) and a transmitter side (i.e.,transmitting function). The block diagram is shown to exemplifyoperations of the active repeater device 102 for cancellation of echochannel path that is caused by self-interference of RF signalstransmitted by RF transmitters of the active repeater device 102.

At the receiver side, there is shown an RF device 634 coupled to thefirst antenna array 304, a down converter 636, and an ADC 638. There isfurther shown a digital signal processor 640 and at the transmitterside, a DAC 642, an up converter 644, and an RF device 646 coupled tothe second antenna array 332. The digital signal processor 640 mayinclude a training signal sequence generator 648, a multiplexer 650, abuffer memory 652, a finite impulse response (FIR) filter 654, an echoestimator 656, and an echo canceller 658. The digital signal processor640 may correspond to the second controller 404 (FIG. 4) and digitalsample processing at 622, as shown in FIG. 6A.

The digital signal processor 640 may be coupled to the ADC 638 at thereceiver side and the DAC 642 at the transmitter side. The ADC 638 atthe receiver side is coupled to the down converter 636 that receives RFsignals from the RF device 634, via the first antenna array 304. Thedown converter 636 may be configured to down convert an RF signal to ananalog baseband (IQ) signal. The down converter 636 may be configured todown convert the RF signal with a first frequency to the analog baseband(IQ) signal based on mixing of a second frequency generated by a localoscillator with the RF signal. The down converter 636 may becommunicatively coupled with a PLL (not shown). Alternatively stated,the PLL in combination with the down converter 636 may be configured todown convert the RF signal into the baseband analog (10) signal. Thedown converter 636 may be configured to communicate the baseband analogIQ signal to the baseband signal processor 206 via a first IQ signalcable. The details of the operations of the down converter 636 and otherRF processing circuitry has been described from FIGS. 1 to 6A andtherefore, it has been omitted for the sake of brevity.

In the baseband signal processor 206, the ADC 638 may be configured togenerate a digital baseband signal that is sampled at a defined samplingrate and further communicated to the digital signal processor 640 of thebaseband signal processor 206. The digital signal processor 640 is aspecialized digital computational circuitry that is configured todigitally model an echo signal at the receiver side, caused byreflection of RF signals transmitted from the transmitter side of theactive repeater device 102. More specifically, the RF signals that aretransmitted by at least the first RH unit 204 or the second RH unit 210may get reflected from surroundings and may be further received back bythe first RH unit 204 or the second RH unit 210 as an echo signal. Theecho signal may cause self-interference with RF signals received at thereceiver side of the active repeater device 102 from a base station orone or more remote UEs. Upon mixing with the RF signals at the receiverside, the echo signal may cause a decrease in a signal to noise ratio(SNR) (measured in decibels (dB)) of the RF signals that are received atthe receiver side of the active repeater device 102, from a base stationor one or more remote UEs.

As an example, an Orthogonal Frequency-Division Multiplexing (OFDM)signal, i.e. a digital signal received from at least the first RH unit204 or the second RH unit 210 has a SNR of “40 dB” with respect to aninput SNR for OFDM signals at transmitter side of the active repeaterdevice 102. The SNR of “40 dB” further indicates an absence of an effecton the SNR by the echo signal that is usually received by at least thefirst RH unit 204 or the second RH unit 210. In terms of an error vectormagnitude (EVM), the SNR of the OFDM signal may be represented by “−40dB EVM”. In presence of the echo signal at the receiver side, the SNR ofthe OFDM signals at the receiver side may drop down to a lower SNR, suchas “19.5 dB” or “−19.5 dB EVM”.

In order to remove the echo signal from the RF signals received from thebase station or the one or more remote UEs, the digital signal processor640 may be configured to estimate an echo path response that correspondsto an estimate of the echo signal received at the receiver side of theactive repeater device 102. Prior to the estimation of the echo pathresponse, the digital signal processor 102 may be configured to measurea signal quality (e.g., in terms of SNR or EVM SNR) of at least onecurrent digital baseband signal (hereinafter, referred to as one or morecurrent digital baseband signals) that corresponds to RF signals at thereceiver side. The signal quality may indicate an effect of the echosignal on the one or more current digital baseband signals may be thedigital baseband signals that are received in real time from one or moreRH units, such as the first RH unit 204 and the second RH unit 210, ofthe active repeater device 102.

The digital signal processor 640 may be further configured to select anonline mode, an offline mode, or a combination of the online mode andthe offline mode for the estimation and the removal of the digital echosignal from the one or more current digital baseband signals. Theselection of the online mode, the offline mode, or the combination ofthe online mode and the offline mode may be done based on the signalquality (i.e. the measured signal quality) of the one or more currentdigital baseband signals. The signal quality may correspond to an echopath response that depends on a size (in terms of FIR filtercoefficients) of a digital echo signal. Alternatively stated, theselection of different modes may be done based on previously measuredperformance of the echo canceller 658 and/or a signal quality (e.g., interms of SNR or EVM SNR) of the one or more current digital basebandsignals.

In order to estimate the echo channel response, a reference signal, suchas an OFDM pilot signal, may be required. Therefore, the trainingsequence signal generator 648 may be configured to generate a trainingsequence signal that is uncorrelated with the one or more currentdigital baseband signals. In the offline mode, the digital signalprocessor 640 may be configured to inject, only the training sequencesignal as a first digital baseband signal into the multiplexer 650 ofthe baseband signal processor 206. The multiplexer 650 may be configuredto multiplex the first digital baseband signal for transmission by atleast the first RH unit 204 or the second RH unit 210, as a beam of RFsignals to the one or more remote UEs or the base station.

The digital signal processor 640 may be further configured to disable apath of the one or more current digital baseband signals to themultiplexer 650 in the offline mode. In the offline mode, the feedbackloop (as depicted in FIG. 6B) is disturbed when the path of the one ormore current digital baseband signals is disabled. In suchconfiguration, the operations associated with the echo cancellation canbe performed under more stable system environment, i.e. with a minimalimpact of the one or more current digital baseband signals on the EVMperformance or SNR performance of the active repeater device 102. Incertain embodiments, a periodic sanity check may be performed on the EVMor SNR performance of the echo canceller 658 of the active repeaterdevice 102.

In the offline mode, the digital signal processor 640 may be configuredto enable a path of the one or more current digital baseband signals tothe multiplexer 650 in the baseband signal processor 206. Thereafter,the digital signal processor 640 may be further configured to inject thetraining sequence signal and the one or more current digital basebandsignals as the first digital baseband signal into the multiplexer 650.The multiplexer 650 may be configured to multiplex the training sequencesignal and the one or more current digital baseband signals into thefirst digital baseband signal for transmission by at least the first RHunit 204 or the second RH unit 210, as a beam of RF signals to the oneor more remote UEs or the base station.

The digital signal processor 640 may be further configured tocommunicate the first digital baseband signal to the DAC 642, from wherethe analog baseband (10) signal of the first digital baseband signal isgenerated. The up converter 644 may be configured to receive and upconvert the analog baseband (IQ) signal to an analog (10) signal, whichmay be further transmitted, by the RF device using the second antennaarray 332, as a beam of radio frequency (RF) signals.

The digital signal processor 640 may be further configured to receive asecond digital baseband signal that may include the first digitalbaseband signal and a digital echo signal. The digital echo signal maycorrespond to a reflection of RF signals previously transmitted by atleast the first RH unit 204 or the second RH unit 210 of the activerepeater device 102. In order to estimate the echo channel path, thedigital signal processor 640 may implement the FIR filter 654 to modelthe echo channel path and the echo estimator 656 for estimation of theecho signal and adaptation of the FIR filter 654 to the estimation ofthe echo signal. Therefore, the digital signal processor 640 may beconfigured to store, in the buffer memory 652, the first digitalbaseband signal that may include at least the training sequence signal.The content of the digital baseband signal may depend on a mode selectedfor the operation of the active repeater device 102. The buffer memory652 may be a First-In-First-Out (FIFO) buffer that may be configured toact as a buffer for storage of the first digital baseband signal suchthat the echo estimator may be configured to utilize the stored firstdigital baseband signal to estimate the echo channel path.

The FIR filter 654 may be a multi-tap FIR filter that may include aplurality of filter taps (also referred to as filter coefficients) thatare adjusted based on different techniques. In accordance with anembodiment, the plurality of filter taps may be estimated based on aleast mean square (LMS) technique or a least squares (LS) technique. Thedetails of LMS or LS technique may be known to one ordinarily skilled inthe art and therefore, the details of such techniques have been omittedfrom the disclosure for the sake of brevity.

The echo estimator 656 may be further configured to estimate a pluralityof filter taps of the FIR filter 654 in the baseband signal processor206, based on the received second digital baseband signal and the storedfirst digital baseband signal. More specifically, if the stored firstbaseband signal is represented by Y[n], the received second digitalbaseband signal is represented by X[n], and h[n] represents theplurality of filter taps of the FIR filter 654, then h[n] may beestimated by equation (1), as follows:

$\begin{matrix}\left. {\min\limits_{h{\lbrack m\rbrack}}\mspace{14mu} E} \middle| {{X\lbrack n\rbrack} - {\sum_{m = 0}^{m = {M - 1}}{{h\lbrack m\rbrack} \times {Y\left\lbrack {n - m} \right\rbrack}}}} \right|^{2} & (1)\end{matrix}$Where “E” represents the statistical expectation of a discrete randomvariable, such as X[n]. According to equation (1), the value of h[m] isadjusted till a difference between the received second digital basebandsignal (X[n]) and a summation of products of a filter tap value and adelayed version of the stored first digital baseband signal fordifferent taps of the FIR filter 654 is minimum, where “n” representsindex values for samples of the stored first digital baseband signal(Y[n]) and the received second digital baseband signal (X[n]), and where“m” represents an index of a filter tap in the FIR filter 654.

In accordance with an embodiment, the plurality of filter taps may beiteratively estimated till optimal filter taps that exhibit an optimalLMS or LS value is estimated. After each iteration, the digital signalprocessor 640 may be configured to estimate a noise cancellationperformance (measured in SNR or EVM SNR) of the active repeater device,for the one or more current digital baseband signals. The noisecancellation performance may be measured to check whether a suitableecho cancellation can be achieved at the receiver side of the activerepeater device 102. with the estimated plurality of filter taps.

The digital signal processor 640 may be further configured to estimatethe digital echo signal in the received second digital baseband signalbased on stored first digital baseband signal and the estimatedplurality of filter taps of the FIR filter. More specifically, if thedigital echo signal is represented by “e[n]”, the stored first digitalbaseband signal is represented by Y[n], and the estimated plurality offilter taps are represented by h[n], then e[n] may be estimated byequation (2), as follows:e[n]=Σ_(m=0) ^(m=M−1) h[m]×Y[n−m]  (2)The noise canceller 658 may be configured to remove the estimateddigital echo signal (represented by e[n]) from the one or more currentdigital baseband signals. The estimated digital echo signal may beremoved by subtraction of the estimated digital echo signal from the oneor more current digital baseband signals.Exemplary Simulation Test Results in an Exemplary Scenario

TABLE 1 Operation State of Active Repeater Device versus EVM performancefor low echo path response Operation State EVM Performance No Echo −40.0dB With Echo, No Echo Cancellation −19.5 dB With Echo, Perfect EchoCancellation   −40 dB With Echo, Echo Cancellation −40.0 dB (signal fromother (Offline Method, Training Sequence transmitter = 0) Length = 1024,No other input signal) With Echo, Echo Cancellation −25.8 dB (TrainingSequence (Offline Method, Training Sequence, Length = 40960) In thepresence of input signal) −32.9 dB (Training Sequence Length = 204800)−34.9 dB (Training Sequence Length = 409600)

TABLE 2 Operation State of Active Repeater Device versus EVM performancefor medium echo path response Operation State EVM Performance No Echo−40.0 dB With Echo, No Echo Cancellation Saturated (cannot measure) WithEcho, Perfect Echo Cancellation   −40 dB With Echo, Echo Cancellation(Offline −40.0 dB (signal from other Method, Training Sequence Length =transmitter = 0) 1024, No other input signal) With Echo, EchoCancellation (Offline −26.1 dB (Training Sequence Method, TrainingSequence, In the Length = 40960) presence of input signal) −32.2 dB(Training Sequence Length = 204800) −34.7 dB (Training Sequence Length =409600)

TABLE 3 Operation State of Active Repeater Device versus EVM performancefor large echo path response Operation State EVM Performance No Echo−40.0 dB With Echo, No Echo Cancellation Saturated (cannot measure) WithEcho, Perfect Echo Cancellation   −40 dB With Echo, Echo Cancellation(Offline −40.0 dB (signal from other Method, Training Sequence Length =transmitter = 0) 1024, No other input signal) With Echo, EchoCancellation (Offline −26.1 dB (Training Sequence Method, TrainingSequence, Length = 40960) In the presence of input signal) −32.4 dB(Training Sequence Length = 204800) −35.0 dB (Training Sequence Length =409600)

Table 1 represents an exemplary echo path response for a small size ofecho signal, with a typical response of h_(e)[0]=0.10, h_(e)[10]=−0.03j,h_(e)[n]=0 for other values of n. Table 2 represents an exemplary echopath response for a medium size of echo signal, with a typical responseof h_(e)[0]=1.00, h_(e)[10]=0.3j, h_(e)[n]=0 for other values of n.Table 3 represents an exemplary echo path response for a large size ofecho signal, with a typical response of h_(e)[0]=10.0, h_(e)[10]=3.0j,h_(e)[n]=0 for other values of n.

FIG. 7 depicts a block diagram illustrating a near-zero-latencymulti-hop scenario using a plurality of active repeater devices, inaccordance with an exemplary embodiment of the disclosure. FIG. 7 isexplained in conjunction with elements from FIG. 1. With reference toFIG. 7, there is shown the exemplary scenario 700 comprising the activerepeater device 102, the base station 104, an additional active repeaterdevice (i.e. active repeater device 702), and the UE 106A. The activerepeater device 102 and the active repeater device 702 may be deployedat certain locations in a non-line-of-sight (NLOS) transmission pathbetween the base station 104 and the UE 106A.

In the exemplary multi-hop scenario, the active repeater device 102 (afirst hop or node) may receive the first beam of input RF signals fromthe base station 104. The base station 104 may be “X1” distance awayfrom the UE 106A. However, a transmission range of the base station 104may be less than “X1”. Therefore, the base station 104 may not becapable of communicating directly with the first UE 106A. In certainscenarios, the active repeater device 102 may be installed at a locationwhich is within the transmission range of the base station 104. Forexample, the active repeater device 102 may be at a distance of “X2”from the base station 104. Further, the UE 106A may still not be locatedwithin the transmission range of the active repeater device 102. In suchcases, the base station 104 may be configured to communicate the firstbeam of the input RF signals (which may be intended for the UE 106A) tothe active repeater device 102. The active repeater device 102 may thentransmit a second beam of output RF signals (based on the input RFsignals) to another active repeater device (a second hop or node), suchas the active repeater device 702. The active repeater device 702 maythen transmit output RF signals via a third beam to the UE 106A. Thus,the first hop and the second hop (i.e. the active repeater devices 102and 702) may extend the range between the base station 104, for example,an eNB, and last repeater (such as the active repeater device 702 inthis case) to more than “Y” km, for example, 2 km. This may be achievedby nearly-zero latency over these hops since each node (individualactive repeater device) of the NLOS transmission path do not performdemodulation and re-modulation operations, as discussed in FIGS. 1 and4.

FIG. 8 illustrates an exemplary scenario for implementation of theactive repeater device, in accordance with an embodiment of thedisclosure. FIG. 8 is explained in conjunction with elements from FIGS.1, 2A, 2B, 2C, and 3 to 7. The active repeater device 102 may compriseone or more sectors, such as a primary sector 802 and one or moresecondary sectors 804, 806, and 808. The primary sector 802 maycorrespond to the primary sector 202. The one or more secondary sectors804, 806, and 808 may correspond to the secondary sectors 208 and 212.(FIGS. 2B and 2C).

The primary sector 802 and each of the one or more secondary sectors804, 806, and 808, after installation at a defined location (e.g. arounda post or pillar), may be configured to cover a portion of a 360-degreescan range for communication among the base station 104, the one or moreremote UEs 106A, 106B, and 106C, or another repeater device. The primarysector 802 may be configured to receive a first beam of input RF signalsfrom the base station 104. The one or more secondary sectors 804, 806,and 808 may be configured to transmit one or more beams of output RFsignals to one or more remote UEs, such as the UEs 106A, 106B, and 106Cindependent of demodulation of data portion of the received first beamof input RF signals to reduce latency for transmission of the one ormore beams of output RF signals to end destination. Alternativelystated, a digital modem circuitry (e.g. the digital modem circuitry 412or 508) in the primary sector 802 selectively decodes only thesubcarriers assigned for the consumption of the active repeater device102 and the full received RF signal is still relayed towards thedestination, such as the UEs 106A, 106B, and 106C, by the one or moresecondary sectors 804, 806, and 808 without demodulation of fullwaveform. This is done to achieve near-zero-latency while maintainingthe EVM target at end destination point (i.e. the one or more remote UEs106A, 106B, and 106C) without relying on demodulation or re-modulationat an intermediate point, such as the deployment location of the activerepeater device 102, for boosting EVM.

In accordance with an embodiment, one or more second antenna arrays ofthe one or more secondary sectors 804, 806, and 808 are furtherconfigured to receive different input RF signals from the one or moreremote UEs 106A, 106B, and 106C through different beam patterns anddistances, as shown. The received different input RF signals from theone or more remote UEs 106A, 106B, and 106C may be superimposed in theprimary sector 802 and transmitted to the base station 104 in uplinkcommunication as a single stream. The single stream includes fullfrequency channel that corresponds to the different input RF signalsreceived from the one or more remote UEs 106A, 106B, and 106C, as shown.

FIGS. 9A and 9B, collectively, depict a flow chart that illustrates anexemplary method of operating an active repeater device, in accordancewith an embodiment of the disclosure. With reference to FIGS. 9A and 9B,there is shown a flow chart 900. The flow chart 900 is described inconjunction with FIGS. 1, 2A, 2B, 2C, and 3 to 8. Referring to FIGS. 9Aand 9B, there is shown a flow chart 900 comprising exemplary operations902 through 932.

At 902, the first beam of input RF signals may be received by a firstantenna array (e.g. the first antenna array 304 or 502) in the first RHunit 204. In one example, the first beam of input RF signals may bereceived from the base station 104. In another example, the first beamof input RF signals may be received from a UE of the one or more remoteUEs 106A, 106B, and 106C.

At 904, a first set of analog baseband (IQ) signals may be generatedbased on the received first beam of input RF signals. The firstcircuitry 504 in the first RH unit 204 may be configured to generate thefirst set of IQ signals. The first circuitry 504 may down convert theinput RF signal to generate the first set of IQ signals. The first setof IQ signals may be received by the baseband signal processor 206 inthe primary sector 202, via the first IQ signal cable 520. The first setof IQ signals may correspond to input RF signals received from the basestation 104.

At 906, the first set of IQ signals received from the first RH unit 204may be converted to the first set of coded data signals. The secondcircuitry 506 may comprise the first set of ADCs 402. The first set ofADCs 402 may be configured to convert the first set of IQ signals to thefirst set of coded data signals. One or more operations (such as 910 and912) in the exemplary method illustrated by the flowchart 900, may beexecuted concurrently to 908, as shown. Therefore, the control may passto 908 and 910.

At 908, control information may be extracted from the first set of codeddata signals. In accordance with an embodiment, the active repeaterdevice 102 may be configured to extract control information from theheader portion of the first set of coded data signals. A digital modemcircuitry (such as the digital modem circuitry 508 or 412) of the activerepeater device 102 may be configured to decode header portion of thefirst set of coded data signals to extract the control information, asdiscussed in FIGS. 4 and 5.

At 910, RSSI associated with the first set of coded digital signals maybe measured by the active repeater device 102 in digital domain. TheRSSI circuitry 510 in the baseband signal processor 206 may beconfigured to measure the RSSI in digital domain as discussed in FIG. 5.The RSSI circuitry 510 may communicate information associated with themeasured RSSI to the second controller 404 in the baseband signalprocessor 206. The second controller 404 in the baseband signalprocessor 206 may be configured to suppress adjacent channel signals inthe first set of coded data signals by use of the channel select filtersin the channel select filter bank 410. The accuracy of the RSSIcircuitry 510 in measuring the RSSI in digital domain may be increasedbecause of suppression of adjacent channel signals, as discussed inFIGS. 4 and 5.

At 912, TSSI across the first set of PAs 330 in the cascadingtransmitter chain 336 of one or more of the first set of RH units may bemeasured. The TSSI circuitry 512 may be configured to measure the TSSIacross the first set of PAs 330 in the cascading transmitter chain 336in the primary sector 202. The TSSI circuitry 512 may be configured tocommunicate information associated with the measured TSSI to the secondcontroller 404. In accordance with an embodiment, the second controller404 may generate the one or more control signals based on the measuredTSSI.

At 914, the first set of coded data signals may be converted to a secondset of IQ signals by the first set of DACs 414. The second set of IQsignals may be transmitted to one or more of the first set of the RHunits communicatively coupled to the baseband signal processor 206.

At 916, the second set of IQ signals may be up converted to one or moreoutput RF signals. The second mixer 320 may be configured to up convertthe second set of IQ signals to one or more output RF signals by use ofthe second PLL 316.

At 918, the one or more control signals may be generated by the secondcontroller 404 based on the extracted control information, the measuredRSSI, and the TSSI. The second controller 404 may be configured tocommunicate the generated one or more control signals to the firstcontroller 322 in the RH unit 302 of the primary sector 202. The firstcontroller 322 may be configured to adjust phase shifts of the first setof receiver front end phase shifters 308 based on the one or morecontrol signals. The first controller 322 may be configured to adjustamplitude gains of the first set of transmitter front end phase shifters328 based on the one or more control signals. Similarly, the firstcontroller 322 may be configured to adjust amplitude gains of the firstset of LNAs 306 and the first set of PAs 330 based on the one or morecontrol signals.

At 920, absolute transmission power levels in the cascading transmitterchain 336 may be calibrated based on the measured TSSI. The secondcontroller 404 may generate the one or more control signals based on themeasured TSSI. The first controller 322 may be configured to adjustamplitude gains of the first set of PAs 330 to calibrate the absolutetransmission power levels in the cascading transmitter chain 336 basedon the generated one or more control signals.

At 922, gain distribution within the cascading receiver chain 334 may beadjusted based on the measured RSSI. For example, the second controller404 may be configured to generate the one or more control signals basedon the measured RSSI and transmit the one or more control signals to thefirst controller 322. The first controller 322 may be configured toadjust amplitude gains of the first set of LNAs 306 based on the one ormore control signals received from the second controller 404. The firstcontroller 322 may be configured to adjust gain distribution within thecascading receiver chain 334.

At 924, transmit power in the cascading transmitter chain 336 may becalibrated based on the measured RSSI. For example, the secondcontroller 404 may generate the one or more control signals based on themeasured RSSI and transmit the control signals to the first controller322. The first controller 322 may be configured to adjust amplitudegains of the first set of PAs 330, based on the one or more controlsignals, to calibrate the transmit power in the cascading transmitterchain 336.

At 926, relative power of input RF signals received from different UEsmay be adjusted in uplink communication to the base station 104, basedon the measured RSSI. The second controller 404 may be configured toadjust relative power of input RF signals received from different UEs,such as the one or more remote UEs 106A, 106B, and 106C, based on themeasured RSSI. One or more operations (such as 928 and 930) may beexecuted concurrently to 932. Therefore, the control may pass to 928 and932.

At 928, the output RF signals which may correspond to input RF signalsfrom the one or more remote UEs 106A, 106B, and 106C, may besuperimposed by the primary sector 202 as a single stream. The output RFsignals may have been generated by the primary sector 202 based on theinput RF signals received from the one or more remote UEs 106A, 106B,and 106C. The single stream includes full frequency channel thatcorresponds to the different input RF signals received from the one ormore remote UEs 106A, 106B, and 106C.

At 930, the superimposed output RF signals may be transmitted to thebase station 104 in uplink communication as a single stream. A phasedantenna array (e.g. the second antenna array 332) of the RH unit 302 maybe configured to transmit the superimposed output RF signals to the basestation 104 in uplink communication as the single stream.

At 932, the first set of coded data signals may be transmitted as one ormore beams of output RF signals by one or more second antenna arrays ofthe one or more secondary sectors (e.g. the one or more secondarysectors 804, 806, and 808) to one or more remote UEs (such as the one ormore remote UEs 106A, 106B, and 106C). The one or more beams of outputRF signals may be transmitted to the one or more remote UEs 106A, 106B,and 106C, based on the extracted control information from the first setof coded data signals. The transmission may be independent ofdemodulation of data portion of the first set of coded data signals toreduce latency for transmission of the first set of coded data signals.

FIGS. 10A and 10B, collectively, depict a flowchart that illustratesexemplary operations for echo channel path cancellation at a basebandreceiver, in accordance with an embodiment of the disclosure. FIGS. 10Aand 10B are described in conjunction with FIGS. 1, 2A, 2B, 2C, and 3 to8. With reference to FIGS. 10A and 10B, there is shown a flowchart 1000that includes exemplary operations from 1002 to 1024.

At 1002, an online mode, an offline mode, or a combination of the onlinemode and the offline mode, may be selected for the estimation andremoval of a digital echo signal from a current digital baseband signal.The digital signal processor 640 in the baseband signal processor 206may be configured to select an online mode, an offline mode, or acombination of the online mode and the offline mode, for the estimationand the removal of a digital echo signal from the current digitalbaseband signal (as explained in FIG. 6B).

At 1004, it may be determined whether the selected mode is an onlinemode. The digital signal processor 640 may be configured to determinewhether the selected mode is an online mode. In a case, where theselected mode is the online mode, control passes to 1006. Otherwise,control passes to 1008.

At 1006, a path of at least one current digital baseband signal to themultiplexer 650 in the baseband signal processor 206 may be enabled. Thedigital signal processor 640 may be configured to enable the path of atleast one current digital baseband signal to the multiplexer 650 in thebaseband signal processor 206.

At 1008, a training sequence signal and at least one current digitalbaseband signal as first digital baseband signal may be injected intothe multiplexer 650 for transmission by at least the first RH unit 204or the second RH unit 214, as a beam of RF signals. The digital signalprocessor 640 may be configured to inject the training sequence signaland the at least one current digital baseband signal as the firstdigital baseband signal into the multiplexer 650, for transmission by atleast the first RH unit 204 or the second RH unit 214, as the beam of RFsignals.

At 1010, the training sequence signal may be only injected as the firstdigital baseband signal into the multiplexer 650, for transmission by atleast the first RH unit 204 or the second RH unit 214, as a beam of RFsignals. The digital signal processor 640 may be configured to injectonly the training sequence signal as the first digital baseband signalinto the multiplexer 650, for transmission by at least the first RH unit204 or the second RH unit 214, as a beam of RF signals.

At 1012, a path of the at least one current digital baseband signal tothe multiplexer 650 may be disabled. The digital signal processor 640may be configured to disable the path of at least one current digitalbaseband signal to the multiplexer 650.

At 1014, the first digital baseband signal that comprises at least thetraining sequence signal may be stored in the buffer memory 652. Thedigital signal processor 640 may be configured to store the firstdigital baseband signal that comprises at least the training sequencesignal in the buffer memory 652.

At 1016, the first digital baseband signal may be transmitted as a beamof RF signals. The first RH unit 204 or the second RH unit 214 may beconfigured to transmit the first digital baseband signal as a beam of RFsignals.

At 1018, a second digital baseband signal that comprises the firstdigital baseband signal and the digital echo signal may be received. Thedigital signal processor 640 may be configured to receive the seconddigital baseband signal that comprises the first digital baseband signaland the digital echo signal.

At 1020, a plurality of filter taps of the FIR filter 654 may beestimated in the baseband signal processor 206, based on the receivedsecond digital baseband signal and the stored first digital basebandsignal. The digital signal processor 640 may be configured to estimate aplurality of filter taps of the FIR filter 654 in the baseband signalprocessor 206, based on the received second digital baseband signal andthe stored first digital baseband signal.

At 1022, a digital echo signal may be estimated in the received seconddigital baseband signal based on stored first digital baseband signaland the estimated plurality of filter taps of the FIR filter 654. Thedigital signal processor 640 may be configured to estimate the digitalecho signal in the received second digital baseband signal based onstored first digital baseband signal and the estimated plurality offilter taps of the FIR filter 654.

At 1024, the estimated digital echo signal may be removed from the atleast one current digital baseband signal, received as RF signals, viaat least the first RH unit 204 or the second RH unit 214. The digitalsignal processor 640 may be configured to remove the estimated digitalecho signal from the at least one current digital baseband signal,received as RF signals, via at least the first RH unit 204 or the secondRH unit 214.

When the active repeater device 102 is deployed, there may be objects inthe surrounding that may cause signals to be reflected resulting in echosignals being received at the active repeater device 102. In accordancewith an embodiment, an initial spatial scan may be performed to cyclethrough all the beams on receive and transmit side of the activerepeater device 102, and initial results of the initial scan may bestored for subsequent reference. Subsequent to the initial scan, everytime there is a new configuration of the beams, new scanning isperformed and the amount of loopback (reflection resulting from the echosignals) may be measured and compared with the initial results of theinitial spatial scan. If the comparison indicates that the amount of theloopback exceeds a certain threshold value, then the corresponding beamsfor the new configuration of beams may be avoided.

Various embodiments of the disclosure may provide a non-transitorycomputer-readable medium having stored thereon, computer implementedinstruction that when executed by one or more circuits causes a deviceto execute operations to receive a first beam of input RF signals. Afirst set of analog baseband signals, are generated based on thereceived first beam of input RF signals. The first set of analogbaseband signals are converted to a first set of coded data signals.Further, control information is extracted from the first set of codeddata signals based on header portion of the first set of coded datasignals. The first set of coded data signals are transmitted as beams ofoutput RF signals to one or more remote user equipment (UEs), based onthe extracted control information from the first set of coded datasignals. The transmission is independent of demodulation of a dataportion of the first set of coded data signals to reduce latency fortransmission of the first set of coded data signals.

While various embodiments described in the present disclosure have beendescribed above, it should be understood that they have been presentedby way of example, and not limitation. It is to be understood thatvarious changes in form and detail can be made therein without departingfrom the scope of the present disclosure. In addition to using hardware(e.g., within or coupled to a central processing unit (“CPU”),microprocessor, micro controller, digital signal processor, processorcore, system on chip (“SOC”) or any other device), implementations mayalso be embodied in software (e.g. computer readable code, program code,and/or instructions disposed in any form, such as source, object ormachine language) disposed for example in a non-transitorycomputer-readable medium configured to store the software. Such softwarecan enable, for example, the function, fabrication, modeling,simulation, description and/or testing of the apparatus and methodsdescribe herein. For example, this can be accomplished through the useof general program languages (e.g., C, C++), hardware descriptionlanguages (HDL) including Verilog HDL, VHDL, and so on, or otheravailable programs. Such software can be disposed in any knownnon-transitory computer-readable medium, such as semiconductor, magneticdisc, or optical disc (e.g., CD-ROM, DVD-ROM, etc.). The software canalso be disposed as computer data embodied in a non-transitorycomputer-readable transmission medium (e.g., solid state memory anyother non-transitory medium including digital, optical, analog-basedmedium, such as removable storage media). Embodiments of the presentdisclosure may include methods of providing the apparatus describedherein by providing software describing the apparatus and subsequentlytransmitting the software as a computer data signal over a communicationnetwork including the internet and intranets.

It is to be further understood that the system described herein may beincluded in a semiconductor intellectual property core, such as amicroprocessor core (e.g., embodied in HDL) and transformed to hardwarein the production of integrated circuits. Additionally, the systemdescribed herein may be embodied as a combination of hardware andsoftware. Thus, the present disclosure should not be limited by any ofthe above-described exemplary embodiments, but should be defined only inaccordance with the following claims and their equivalents.

What is claimed is:
 1. An active repeater device, comprising: a primarysector that includes a baseband signal processor and a first radio head(RH) unit, wherein a first antenna array in the first RH unit isconfigured to receive a first beam of input RF signals, wherein thefirst beam of input RF signals is received from at least one of one ormore remote user equipment (UEs) or a base station; a first circuitry inthe first RH unit is configured to generate a first set of analogbaseband signals based on the received first beam of input RF signals; asecond circuitry in the baseband signal processor is configured toconvert the first set of analog baseband signals received from the firstRH unit to a first set of coded data signals; and a digital modemcircuitry in the baseband signal processor is configured to extractcontrol information from the first set of coded data signals by decodingonly a header portion of the first set of coded data signals withoutdemodulation of data portion of the first set of coded data signals; andone or more secondary sectors, wherein each of the one or more secondarysectors are communicatively coupled to the primary sector and includes asecond RH unit, wherein the second RH unit is configured to transmit thefirst set of coded data signals as one or more beams of output RFsignals by one or more second antenna arrays of the one or moresecondary sectors to the one or more remote UEs or a base station, basedon the extracted control information from the first set of coded datasignals, wherein the one or more beams of output RF signals aretransmitted without demodulation of the data portion of the first set ofcoded data signals within the active repeater device to reduce latencyfor transmission of the first set of coded data signals.
 2. The activerepeater device of claim 1, wherein the digital modem circuitry supportsat least multi-band millimeter wave (mmWave) spectrum.
 3. The activerepeater device of claim 1, wherein the primary sector and each of theone or more secondary sectors are configured to cover a portion of a360-degree scan range for communication among the base station, the oneor more remote user equipment (UEs), or another repeater device.
 4. Theactive repeater device of claim 1, further comprising a Received SignalStrength Indicator (RSSI) circuitry in the primary sector configured tomeasure RSSI of each input RF signal received from the one or moreremote UEs in digital domain, wherein an accuracy of the measurement ofthe RSSI in the digital domain is increased based on suppression ofadjacent channel signals in the digital domain.
 5. The active repeaterdevice of claim 4, further comprising a controller in the primary sectorconfigured to adjust gain distribution within a cascading receiver chainbased on the measured RSSI.
 6. The active repeater device of claim 5,wherein the controller is further configured to adjust transmit power ofa cascading transmitter chain based on the measured RSSI.
 7. The activerepeater device of claim 5, wherein the controller is further configuredto adjust, based on the measured RSSI, relative power of input RFsignals received from different UEs in uplink communication to the basestation.
 8. The active repeater device of claim 1, further comprising aTransmit Signal Strength Indicator (TSSI) circuitry in the primarysector configured to measure TSSI across a plurality of power amplifiersin a cascading transmitter chain.
 9. The active repeater device of claim8, further comprising a controller in the primary sector configured tocalibrate absolute transmission power levels in the cascadingtransmitter chain based on the measured TSSI.
 10. The active repeaterdevice of claim 1, wherein the one or more second antenna arrays of theone or more secondary sectors are further configured to receivedifferent input RF signals from the one or more remote UEs throughdifferent beam patterns and distances, wherein the received differentinput RF signals from the one or more remote UEs are superimposed by theprimary sector and transmitted to the base station in uplinkcommunication as a single stream, wherein the single stream includesfull frequency channel that corresponds to the different input RFsignals received from the one or more remote UEs.
 11. The activerepeater device of claim 1, wherein a second antenna of the one or moresecond antenna arrays of the one or more secondary sectors is furtherconfigured to communicate a second beam of output RF signals to a firstUE of the one or more remote UEs via a set of other active repeaterdevices in a non-line-of-sight (NLOS) transmission path, wherein thefirst UE is located at a distance greater than a transmission range ofthe active repeater device.
 12. The active repeater device of claim 1,wherein the first antenna array in the first RH unit of the primarysector and the one or more second antenna arrays of the one or moresecondary sectors are configured to receive the first beam of input RFsignals and transmit the one or more beams of output RF signals inaccordance with multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) reception andtransmission.
 13. The active repeater device of claim 1, wherein thecontrol information includes Time Division Duplex (TDD) time slotinformation and beamforming information.
 14. The active repeater deviceof claim 13, wherein the control information further includes framestructure and frame length information of the first set of coded datasignals accessed from the header portion of the first set of coded datasignals.
 15. The active repeater device of claim 1, wherein thecontroller is further configured to: estimate, in a digital basebanddomain, a digital echo signal in at least one current digital basebandsignal received from at least the first RH unit or the second RH unit;and remove, at a receiver side of the active repeater device, anestimate of the digital echo signal from the at least one currentdigital baseband signal, received as RF signals via at least the firstRH unit or the second RH unit.
 16. An active repeater device,comprising: one or more secondary sectors, wherein each of the one ormore secondary sectors include a baseband signal processor and a secondRH unit, wherein a second antenna array in the second RH unit isconfigured to receive a first beam of input RF signals, wherein thefirst beam of input RF signals is received from at least one of one ormore remote user equipment (UEs) or a base station; a circuitry in thesecond RH unit is configured to generate a first set of analog basebandsignals based on the received first beam of input RF signals; a secondcircuitry in the baseband signal processor is configured to convert thefirst set of analog baseband signals received from the second RH unit toa first set of coded data signals; and a digital modem circuitry in thebaseband signal processor is configured to extract control informationfrom the first set of coded data signals by decoding only a headerportion of the first set of coded data signals without demodulation ofdata portion of the first set of coded data signals; and a primarysector, communicatively coupled to the one or more secondary sectors,includes a first radio head (RH) unit, wherein the first RH unit isconfigured to transmit the first set of coded data signals as a beam ofoutput RF signals, by a first antenna array of the primary sector, to atleast the one or more remote UEs or a base station, based on theextracted control information from the first set of coded data signals,wherein the beam of output RF signals is transmitted withoutdemodulation of the data portion of the first set of coded data signalswithin the active repeater device to reduce latency for transmission ofthe first set of coded data signals.
 17. A method, comprising: in anactive repeater device comprising a primary sector and one or moresecondary sectors, wherein the primary sector includes a baseband signalprocessor and a first radio head (RH) unit, and wherein each of the oneor more secondary sectors are communicatively coupled to the primarysector and includes a second RH unit: receiving, by a first antennaarray in the first RH unit, a first beam of input RF signals;generating, by a first circuitry in the first RH unit, a first set ofanalog baseband signals, based on the received first beam of input RFsignals; converting, by a second circuitry in the baseband signalprocessor, the first set of analog baseband signals received from thefirst RH unit to a first set of coded data signals; extracting, by adigital modem circuitry in the baseband signal processor, controlinformation from the first set of coded data signals by decoding only aheader portion of the first set of coded data signals withoutdemodulation of data portion of the first set of coded data signals; andtransmitting, by the second RH unit in the one or more secondarysectors, the first set of coded data signals as one or more beams ofoutput RF signals by one or more second antenna arrays of the one ormore secondary sectors to one or more remote user equipment (UEs), basedon the extracted control information from the first set of coded datasignals, wherein the one or more beams of output RF signals aretransmitted without demodulation of the data portion of the first set ofcoded data signals within the active repeater device to reduce latencyfor transmission of the first set of coded data signals.
 18. The methodof claim 17, wherein the digital modem circuitry is a 5th generation(5G) digital modem circuitry that supports at least multi-bandmillimeter wave (mm Wave) spectrum.
 19. The method of claim 17, whereinthe primary sector and each of the one or more secondary sectors, afterinstallation at a defined location, are configured to cover a portion ofa 360-degree scan range for communication among a base station, the oneor more remote user equipment (UEs), or another repeater device.
 20. Themethod of claim 17, further comprising measuring, by a Received SignalStrength Indicator (RSSI) circuitry in the primary sector, RSSI of eachinput RF signal received from the one or more remote UEs in digitaldomain, wherein an accuracy of the measurement of the RSSI in thedigital domain is increased based on suppression of adjacent channelsignals in the digital domain.
 21. The method of claim 20, furthercomprising adjusting, by a controller in the primary sector, gaindistribution within a cascading receiver chain based on the measuredRSSI.
 22. The method of claim 21, further comprising adjusting, by thecontroller, transmit power of a cascading transmitter chain based on themeasured RSSI.